The comments from my last post about reading has made me think about a few other things. I often think about how people learn to read.
When I attended school in the late 40's and early 50's we had a system that was very limited. We had one room rural schools. We had people teaching with little or no training. Correspondence courses were developed but how do you expect a six year old to learn to read taking correspondence. These rural schools met their end in the late 40's and early 50's , The school I went to called Hiawatha, closed in 1955. There were 6 student enrolled in the last year. They were all boys consisting of three sets of brothers. My two brothers attended the last year.
My first year of teaching in 1958 ,was in a rural school that had nine students. It was closed the next year. I had three grade ones. One little guy knew how to read but jumped through all the hoops. The other little boy was never going to read. I think the little girl learned from my efforts.
I don't ever remember learning to read. I remember going through the work books and doing assignments but it was nothing I learned. I liked the work books.
So after all this rambling , I'm wondering about how the learning to read makes life long readers..
I think there are good programs to teach reading but do they fit all students? Do life long readers come from people who know how to read well? Or are the readers just curious people? Do life long readers find reading stimulating for a number of reasons such as entertainment?
What do you think?
Some people just absorb reading (there is a photo of me sitting in my pram reading a cereal box....) Others need an incentive. There is no One Size Fits All
ReplyDeleteAs a child. I enjoyed going to the library and picking out my books. I have reading ever since, I have a long list of books to be read.
ReplyDeleteTake care, enjoy your day and have a great weekend.
It’s so variable. Granddaughter picked it up pre-school as if it was the most natural thing in the world. We are all different.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember learning to read, though I do recall at the beginning of a book wondering if I would be able to read the end of it.
ReplyDeleteNot all approaches to reading suit every child and the best methods mix and match.
I remember the day I realized I could read without assistance. It was life changing.
ReplyDeleteMy parents didn't have a television in the house so always read for entertainment. I had no choice until I was well into my college years and finally had enough money to buy a used television. But by then, the hook had been set and to this day, I read all the time compared to 99% of the population though still not as much as my parents did.
ReplyDeleteRed, Reading teaches us how to be alone without being lonely. It creates a still space in which thoughts can deepen. In that space, we meet not only authors and characters, but ourselves. Over time, the habit becomes part of our identity. We are not simply people who read; we are readers. John
ReplyDeleteI still have the beginning readers that were used when I was in 1st grade at our local Catholic school. I've been a life-long reader because I always loved books and we had a wonderful library in town where I spent a LOT of time. I'm still a huge library user. Mysteries are my favorite but I will try other genres when recommended.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember learning how to read but am I lifelong reader. My son with ADHD and learning disabilities didn't learn how to read until grade five and I bought "Hooked On Phonics" and taught him how to read myself. Fortunately my grandson is right on schedule with his reading.
ReplyDeleteI am a life long reader. I recall that words were like a puzzle to me and I had to figure it all out. My Mother only read the Bible. She thought other reading was a waste of time. She read one book the last year of her life and I saved it to read someday. My Dad was a reader but because of Mom’s dislike of reading he had to hide his books. In later years he didn’t care anymore but she would be nasty to him saying he was wasting time with his nose stuck in a book.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful sharing dear Red
ReplyDeleteAs far I remember our teacher of primary classes would read paragraphs front of the students and then smarter ones were asked to read same paragraph again. But number of less active students would come quite late and many of them would learn how to read to some extent.
I was best student in class in reading,though when it would come to write I would loose more of my points
Being a teacher I find modern ways of teaching lot better but I still notice that it works for smart ones mostly
I don't remember how I learned to read either but it involved basal Dick and Jane readers and very little phonics. I was fortunate to be a successful learner. Many kids weren't. Later in my teaching career I became a reading specialist working with struggling learners, allowing them the time and the systematic instruction they needed to become successful. And yes, it was phonics based.
ReplyDeleteI remember my "Dick and Jane" books, then autobiographies. My Mom took me to the library frequently. I read to my son nightly, and he seemed to enjoy reading. But when the Harry Potter series was published, he couldn't read fast enough. He insisted I bring any new edition to visitors day at Scout Camp! I kept telling him the Potter stories were similar to Lord of the Rings. I believe he has most every book J.R.R.Tolkien published. He spent 3 hours after the first Jackson LOTR movie came out about all of the parts that were not included. He managed to get through vet school reading other things. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteI don't remember learning how to read and only have a memory of my brother reading to me once, but I am sure my mother must have read to me because she was a teacher in a multi-grade one-room school and enjoyed reading herself. I cannot imagine my life without reading. I think those who are read to as youngsters have a leg up on learning to read. I like that the schools now allow kids to choose books of interest to them, including graphic novels. Whatever gets them to read should be what they are encouraged to read.
ReplyDeleteReading just made sense to me. I understood it right away. When I was in grade school, I was tested at reading at a first year in college level. I read voraciously. Now I read mostly on a device.
ReplyDeleteWe must be a similar age because I went to school late 40s and 50s, I can't remember learning to read, its as though I always could.. I read a lot and did when young because we didn't have a TV . My reading allowed me to live an exciting life as I lived inside what ever book I was reading.
ReplyDeleteI'm a life long reader. I'd consider myself a curious person but I am also entertained by it since most of the time I read fiction. I don't recall much about learning to read. I do have hazy recollections of teachers sounding out letters...I guess that was called Phonics back in the day. Some of the older generation in my family never went to school and didn't learn to read. That might have factored into why my parents thought an education was very important and of course part of that is learning to read.
ReplyDeleteI learned to read using a system called phonics, which required me to sound out the words. I still remember my first-grade teacher saying, "Sound it out." It worked well for me and I was reading happily within no time.
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest predictor of how enthusastically a person will read is whether anyone else in their house does. I saw my mom reading books all the time so it made sense for me to do the same. I had a reading role model, in other words.
I read well and quickly but I wouldn't say I'm a lifelong reader. Other things have distracted me and I've lost the fervour I once had.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes a lifelong reader? Ability, support, curiosity?
As a young child, I was an enthusiastic reader. My mother took us to our local library frequently. We too did not have a TV. I read every Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys book I could get my hands on. I rarely read a book now, but prefer biographies when I do. RHill, TX
ReplyDeleteI've always believed that kids learn to read if they are read to, in the very early years.
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